


What You See (I See Too)

by flipflop_diva



Category: Batwoman (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Earth Beth Kane Lives, Arkham Asylum, Experimentation, Gen, Horror, Psychological Horror, Sisters, Telepathic Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25457866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/pseuds/flipflop_diva
Summary: Beth was on the floor, her hands grasping on to the side of her head, her face pale, terror in her eyes. Mary was crouched down next to her, her hands on Beth’s upper arms, trying to talk to her.Mary turned around as Kate entered the room.  “I don’t know what’s wrong!” she said.Beth’s hands dropped and she sat up straight, lifting her head to look first at Kate and then Mary. She was still completely white.“Something’s happening to Alice,” she said. “At Arkham. They’re torturing her. I can see it.”
Relationships: Alternate Earth Beth Kane & Kate Kane, Beth Kane | Alice & Kate Kane, Mary Hamilton & Kate Kane
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34
Collections: Multifandom Horror Exchange (2020)





	What You See (I See Too)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celaenos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celaenos/gifts).



It was supposed to be a peaceful, relaxing morning. Mary had convinced her and Beth to get dressed up and go out with her to this place she knew that was supposedly great for brunch. (“We can eat eggs and drink mimosas and Blood Marys like real sisters!” Mary had beamed.) 

Mary had been working on Beth’s makeup all week to get her features to look less like Alice, just in case anyone spotted her when she was out in public, and now that Alice had been safely locked away in Arkham for the past few days, the atmosphere around the tower did seem a lot more relaxed.

Except when it came to Kate.

Part of her — mostly the part of her that came out during her dreams, or rather her nightmares — couldn’t get out of her mind the look on Alice’s face when Alice realized her twin had betrayed her. That part of Kate liked to remind herself that her sister couldn’t help what she had been made into by someone who was nothing less than a monster but that Kate might still be able to reach her, still be able to help her become something other who she had become.

But in the daylight, Kate knew that was just wishful thinking. Having Beth here now, a reminder of who Alice could have been, just proved that she couldn’t help Alice, no matter how much she wanted to.

And maybe Alice would finally get the help she needed at Arkham. Their father had said she would. That was the one consolation Kate kept repeating to herself.

It was also the main thing she was concentrating on now as she got dressed, checked her hair in the mirror and headed down the hall to see if Beth and Mary were ready to go to brunch. What she found ruined any illusion of any kind of happy mealtime any time soon.

Beth was on the floor, her hands grasping on to the side of her head, her face pale, terror in her eyes. Mary was crouched down next to her, her hands on Beth’s upper arms, trying to talk to her.

Mary turned around as Kate entered the room. “I don’t know what’s wrong!” she said. 

Kate flew across the room to her sisters, dropping down beside Mary and putting a hand on Beth’s back.

“Are the headaches back?” she asked, maybe to Beth, maybe to Mary.

But then Beth’s hands dropped and she sat up straight, lifting her head to look first at Kate and then Mary. She was still completely white.

“Something’s happening to Alice,” she said. “At Arkham. They’re torturing her. I can see it.”

\--

Luke and Mary wanted to run some tests. Beth was insistent, though.

“This isn’t the same thing,” she said. “This is different. It’s like I am her. I can see through her eyes. I can feel what she feels.”

“How is that possible?” Kate asked. She looked up at Mary and Luke. “Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know,” Mary said.

“Maybe,” Luke said.

“Maybe?”

“We thought when Alice died, those few minutes before you brought her back, that it broke the connection between them,” Luke said.

Kate shook her head. “Yes, we know,” she said hurriedly. “The headaches stopped. The cell deterioration stopped.”

“And it’s still stopped, according to these tests,” Mary said. She pointed at the computer screen in front of her.

“What does that mean?” Beth asked.

“It means that while death allowed you both to exist in the same reality,” Luke began.

“Maybe it connected you in a different way,” Mary finished.

Luke nodded. “Yes. That.”

Beth looked from Mary to Luke to Kate and back again. “So I’m right? I might actually be seeing what Alice is seeing? Experiencing what she’s experiencing?”

“Yes,” Luke said.

Beth turned back to Kate. She reached for her hand. “We have to get her out of there,” she said. “They are _torturing_ her. They are _killing_ her.” She looked back at Mary and Luke. “And maybe killing me too.”

\--

The torture started again, and this time it was worse. Beth curled up in a ball on the floor, screaming in terror and pain.

Somewhere in Arkham, Alice was doing the same thing, and Kate’s insides twisted. What had she sentenced both her sisters to? What if what was happening to Alice pushed Beth over the edge as well?

“We have to break her out!” Mary said.

Kate didn’t know how to tell them she was the one who broke her in. But maybe they were right. It might be the only way to save Beth, to really break the connection.

“Okay,” she said. “But it’s not going to be easy.”

\--

In the end, Kate went alone, with Luke as backup. Mary stayed back with Beth, who was shaking with pain and fear, seeing things that weren’t real.

“They won’t let me out,” she was sobbing at one point. “He’s going to kill me. I just want to go home!”

“Alice is going to hate you,” Luke said to Kate as they headed out. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“We don’t have a choice. We have to save Beth.”

“And Alice?”

“I hope so.”

\--

Through the ringing of the fire alarm and the water pouring down from the sprinkler system, Kate found Alice, tied to a bed, her eyes stony as they settled on Kate.

“Is that really you, sister dear?” she asked coldly. “Come to gloat, have you?”

“I’ve come to take you home,” Kate said.

“Feeling guilty, are you?”

“No.”

“Liar!”

Kate debated. If she told her what was happening to Beth, would Alice refuse? Would she be willing to kill them both just to seek vengeance for Kate letting her die? Even if Kate had instantly felt the worst pain of her life in that moment and had done everything she could to bring Alice back?

She decided on a half-truth. “I know what they’re doing to you in here,” she said. “That’s not what I wanted.”

“You know what they’re doing?” Alice asked. “And what, dear sister, is that?”

“Do you want to get out of here or not?”

“I want you to say it.”

“Why?”

“Because you put me in here. Now say it.”

Kate almost snarled. She could hear footsteps and she knew the Crows were on the way. If they got caught …

“I know they’re messing with your mind,” she said. “I know they’re torturing you and pretending it’s healing.”

“And how would you know that?” Alice said.

Kate didn’t answer, but she didn’t have to. A look of understanding flashed across Alice’s face.

“Beth,” she said. “She can feel it too. Our connection isn’t gone. Just changed. How interesting.”

Kate nodded. “Something like that.”

“So you’re doing this to save Beth?” Was it Kate’s imagination or did Alice look hurt?

“This isn’t what I wanted,” Kate told her again.

“But you’re doing it to save Beth.”

“Maybe I’m doing it to save both of you.”

Alice studied her, even as the sounds of footsteps drew nearer. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“How do I know _I_ can trust _you_?” Kate shot back.

They stared at each other, years of guilt and regret and pain and trauma passing between them. Finally, Kate took in a breath. There was only one way to save all of her sisters, and it wasn’t by standing here arguing with one of them.

She held out a hand.

Seconds ticked by. Precious seconds filled with the sounds of footsteps and shouting.

Finally, after an eternity, Alice nodded. Then she took Kate’s hand, let her sister pull her to her feet and together, they dashed down the hall toward safety.


End file.
